The following discussion of the background art is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention only. The discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to is or was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of the application.
Water dispensers, also commonly known as water-coolers, are often found in homes and workplaces where they provide a convenient means for dispensing water. Many of these water dispensers contain heat exchangers that allow the dispenser to dispense chilled water as well as, in certain cases, heated water.
Certain such water dispensers may be plumbed into a pre-existing water supply where they operate at relatively high water heads or pressures. These arrangements are, however, rather limiting as the water dispenser cannot be moved without it having to be disconnected and re-connected to the plumbing at a suitable station. Such units are therefore generally considered to be fixed or stationary and cannot easily be moved from one station in a building or office to another. Such units are also referred to as “point of use” or POV coolers.
The majority of coolers are free standing and not plumbed in, and generally require the purchasing of bulk bottled water by users thererof. This type of water dispenser is of the inverted bottle-type, wherein an inverted water reservoir is placed on to a water cooling/heating dispenser. These units typically operate at much lower water head than the abovementioned plumbed fixtures, as these units are gravity fed and fluid flow volumes and rates are mostly dependent on the effects of gravity on the water within the reservoir. As such, these dispensers usually operate at fluid pressures of less than, say, 5 psi, sometimes as low as 1 psi, or even less. However, as no external plumbing is required such units are typically quite easy to install, operate, and relocate if so required. However, these so-called “spring water” coolers can be very costly in the long run, as they rely on the purchase of bulk bottled water on a continuous basis. To provide a source of clean, purified water, the water sold as spring water in such systems is frequently obtained by the supplier from a domestic water supply in unfiltered or unpurified form. It then needs to be filtered and sold as spring water, which increases the running costs of such spring water units passed through a filtration unit.
Other gravity-fed water dispensers of which the Applicant is aware have an in-line filter placed in direct fluid contact within the reservoir. These filtration units house filters or cartridges comprising mostly activated carbon, which filter out impurities through a process of adsorption. Due to fluid flow constraints in such systems, the filters have to be placed in a direct fluid flow line between the reservoir and the cooling system, to ensure adequate fluid flow from the reservoir, through the filtration unit, a cooling tank, and through a dispensing spout. A major shortcoming of these systems is that the water filtration unit, due to its placement within the water tank, is exposed to UV irradiation. This is detrimental to the carbon filtration unit, as it provides suitable conditions for accelerated growth of bacteria and other water-borne pathogens. The filtration unit effectively then becomes a seeding unit for pathogen contamination and dispersion in the water flowing from the filter. The placement of the filtration unit in such systems also makes it difficult to access the filtration unit to replace the filter cartridge without draining or removing the tap water reservoir tank which houses the filter.
It is an object of this invention to provide a water dispenser, filtration unit, and kit which addresses certain of the shortcomings of the prior art.